Thursday, August 28, 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

I am excited to have come across a book with letters and memories of Charles Kingsley. In the book they have a 'fac simile' of his poem 'The Three Fishers' which was turned into a folk song and became an anthem for the Christian Socialist Movement.

- For men must work and women must weep

Here is a text of the poem:

Three fishers went sailing out into the West,
Out into the West as the sun went down;
Each thought on the woman who lov’d him the best;
And the children stood watching them out of the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And there's little to earn, and many to keep,
Though the harbor bar be moaning.

Three wives sat up in the light-house tower,
And they trimm’d the lamps as the sun went down;
They look’d at the squall, and they look’d at the shower,
And the night rack came rolling up ragged and brown!
But men must work, and women must weep,
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbor bar be moaning.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands
In the morning gleam as the tide went down,
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come back to the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner it ’s over, the sooner to sleep—
And good-by to the bar and its moaning.

According to wikipedia in the last line the word 'bar' refers to the sand bar in the harbour and the tradition that it is a bad omen to hear the wind wailing over the sand bar.

I do have an interest in Kingsley and I must admit I haven't come across this song / poem before but it is certainly striking. Apparently in Victorian times the song was quite popular. Kingsley was involved in the Christian Socialist Movement and this poem could probably be said to have started a movement that woulld change the world.

Here is a picture I have taken of the handwritten version from the book I have just discovered:

You might have to click on the picture to expand it.

There are a couple of youtube videos of the song, it is an incredible song. This is a version that I like by from 'Live at Barry's House'. The singer, I believe, is Hannah Lynch from Dungannon, a fellow Norn Irelander.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Whilst in Mancora, Peru
I just happened to overhear in conversation that across the bay was a
place called Cabo Blanco where Hemingway had visited. I have a
reverence for Hemingway that is quite serious and I jokingly called
this a 'pilgrimage'.

Cabo Blanco is a place
that is not easy to get to. Although it had some wonder days in the
50s and 60s, the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club was a place for celebrities
like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe to visit. Today Cabo Blanco is
quiet but busy. A centre for oil and surfing rather than game
fishing.

The reef of honeycomb
sandstone is one of the fiercest rocks I have ever seen. I would not
like to be smashed into that.

A lonely quiet place,
the town receives 3 hours of water per week. The Fishing Club is now
a wreck and I didn't get to see it. In the Black Marlin Restaurant,
there is a set of old pictures.

The beach is a lonely
powerful place. From September you can see whales. The surfing is one
of the best in Peru with an almost perfect 'tube' wave. It is
certainly possible to feel the atmosphere of Hemingway.

I certainly enjoyed my
walk on the beach, thinking of the month Hemingway spent in 1956.

I thought you would all
enjoy this pic. We came to visit the 'Restaurant Cabo Blanco' and it
was closed – but we took a fun pic anyway.

About the blog

I have been writing this blog for over ten years. I tend to be quite eclectic in my range of interests and you will see that the subjects vary from Heaven by George Herbert to Curious George. The main reason I started writing this blog was to get my view across that the reviews we see in the papers come from the literary establishment. Writers who review books by their friends and this does not mean that the reviews are accurate. Along the way I got distracted, I even added some of my artwork but I hope you enjoy reading it. My favourite post is from January 2005 -English literature and geology do mix!- You should search it out.